1500s Adults in Extended Family Groups

1519 Giovanni Cariani (1485-1547) Seven Albani Portraits

1520s Bernardino Licinio (1489-1565) Portrait of a Family

1520s Bernardino Licinio (1489-1565) Family Group

1560s Tintoretto, Jacopo Robusti (Italian, 1518-1594), Seven Members of the Soranzo Family

1575 Girolamo Forni, Portrait of the Women of the Giusti del Giardino family

1592 Thomas More and his Family by Rowland Lockey (1565-1616) after Hans Holbein the Younger

1500s Saxon Family Trees (The Spalatin Chronicle Family Trees) - Illuminated Manuscripts

Frederick III, Elector of Saxony (1463–1525), Frederick the Wise, was the protector of Martin Luther, whom he offered asylum in his castle Wartburg.  Frederick III also asked his chief secretary George Burkhardt (known as George Spalatin), to compile a history of the German regions of Saxony & Thuringia.  Spalatin created a family history for the rulers of the various regions depicted as family tree miniatures decorated with family crests (The Spalatin Chronicle Family Trees), painted by the workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder (German artist, 1472–1553).  Cranach & his workshop also painted many full-sized portraits of Frederick the Wise in the years after his death.

Frederick III (1463–1525), the Wise, Elector of Saxony, attr to Lucas Cranach the Elder (German, 1472–1553) or to his workshop


The label of this painting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art reads, "This panel and the portrait of John the Steadfast, the sitter's brother, are one of at least sixty pairs of portraits of his father and uncle ordered by John Frederick the Magnanimous from Cranach when he became Elector in 1532. All three rulers were Cranach's patrons at Wittenberg. So extensive a commission would undoubtedly have been executed mainly by workshop assistants." The portrait of Frederick's brother follows.

John I (1468–1532), the Steadfast, Elector of Saxony. Workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder (German artist, 1472–1553)

Another of the paintings of Frederick III (1463–1525), the Wise, Elector of Saxony, attr to Lucas Cranach the Elder (German, 1472–1553) or to his workshop

1500s English & European Families

1515 Bernhard Strigel (German artist, c 1461-1528) Emperor Maximilian (1459-1519), Mary of Burgundy, their son Philip, and grandchildren Ferdinand, Charles and Margaret.

The Renaissance household in Europe was often made up of extended family members of different age groups. Grandparents, unmarried uncles & aunts, widowed sisters, with both natural & adopted children could coexist under the same roof. Boys and girls had a very different upbringing and destinies. Men's lives revolved around their professional achievements, women's around their biological beauty.

1517 Bernhard Strigel (German artist, c 1461-1528) Portrait of Conrad Rehlinge and his Children

Until the end of the Middle Ages, adults in the West often viewed children as miniature versions of grown-ups. In the 15C & 16C, artists usually depicted children in family portraits to look like shrunken replicas of their parents. Their clothes & their bodily proportions are usually the same as those of adults.  Families were often large.  Fatal infections in the Middle Ages were quite prevalent, & infant mortality rates were extremely high. Young children were not expected to live for very long.  In 17C France, for instance, between 20% & 50% of all infants died within the 1st year after birth.

1520 Bernhard Bernhard Strigel (German artist, c 1461-1528) The Cuspinian Family

1500s Bernardino Licinio (Italian artist, 1489-1565) Family Group

1530s Bernardino Licinio (Italian artist, 1489-1565) Arrigo Licinio and His Family

England's King Henry VII (1457-1509) and sons Arthur, Henry (VIII) and Edmund.

English King Henry VII's wife Elizabeth of York (1466-1503 with daughters Margaret, Elizabeth, Mary and Catherine.

1533 Giovanni Antonio Fasolo (Italian painter, 1530-1572) Valmarana Family

1547 Lorenzo Lotto (Italian artist, 1480-1556) Giovanni della Volta with his Wife and Children

1550 Paris Bordone (Italian painter, 1500-1571) Gentleman & Lady with their Daughter

1553-55 The Jagiellon Family attr Lucas Cranach the Younger (1515-1586)

1550-60 Cesare Vecellio (Italian painter, 1521-1601) Portrait of a Family

1559 Hans Hug Kluser Bildnis der Famlie des Basler Zunftmeisters Hans Rudolf Faesch und der Anna Glaser

1563 Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II. 1527-1576 of Austria and his wife Infanta Maria of Spain with their children.

1563-4 Cornelis de Zeeuw(fl 1558-1569) Dem Mucheron Family

1563  Bernard de Rijkere. Adriann van Santvoort & sons Guillaume & Adrian

1565 Bernardino Licinio (Italian artist, 1489-1565) A Family

1567 William Brooke, 10th Lord of Cobham and his Family by an Unknown Artist of the British School

1568 Katherine de Vere (c 1541-1600) Edward 3rd & his family Lord Windsor (1532-1575)

1570 Frans Pourbus the Elder (1545-1581) George 5th Lord Seton and Family

1577 Attributed to Frans Menton, Portrait of a Family

1577 Martin de Vos (Flemish Mannerist painter, ca.1532-1603) Portrait of Antonius Anselmus, His Wife and Their Children

1583 Adriaen Thomasz Key (c1540-1599) Self-Portrait with family  

1584 Lavinia Fontana (1552-1614) Portrait of the Gozzadini Family

1584 Otto van Veen, also known by his Latinized name Otto Venius or Octavius Vaenius, (Flemish artist, c1556-1629) Artist with his Family

c 1585 Anthuenis Claeissens (Flemish artist, 1538–1613) Family Saying Grace Before a Meal

1590 Jacob Willemsz. Delff the Elder (c 1550-1601) Self-Portrait with Family

1598 Pieter Pietersz (1540-1603) Laurens Jacobszon with His Wife and Three Sons

1598 Lavinia Fontana (Italian painter, 1552-1614)  Family Portrait

  1598 Gortzius Geldorp, A Father with 3 Sons